Headscratchers / Big Fat Liar

• If Big Fat Liar hadn't been greenlit by Marcus Duncan, how would Marty have been able to show a trailer of the film in theaters if the movie didn't have a budget and hadn't been approved? No one can make a preview of a film if it hasn't started filming yet, aside from the fact that the audience would feel cheated if said movie ended up not being released despite having a trailer...
  • The film had already been greenlit once (an extended scene explains it was part of Wolf's three-picture deal), but they needed to revise things. Monty specifies that they're $2 million over budget and need Duncan to approve the "new budget" before principal photography begins the next day.
• Okay, maybe Jason and Kylee didn't think about this because they're teens, but why didn't Frank warn them about messing with Marty's car? They changed the brake pedal so it would turn on the horn! As much as Frank hated Marty, was he willing to aid two teens to damage Marty's car even if it could possibly lead to Marty's death if he found himself in a situation where he would need to brake but be unable to do so?
  • The brake pedal still worked; it just also sounded the horn.
• After Marty misses his meeting with Duncan, Monty assures Duncan that she doesn't know why Marty missed it. Why didn't Monty tell him that she sent Marty to an address given by "Marcus' assistant"? Then Marcus could have suspected that something was wrong...
  • You don't make excuses to your boss when he's already mad at you; you just promise to fix the problem.
• One of the reasons why Marcus initially refuses to greenlight Big Fat Liar is because Whittiker and Fowl cost the studio millions, but the movie has just been released. Why not wait until it finishes its theatrical run to determine if it was a flop? Sometimes, even films which are not well received critically end up becoming box office hits!
  • It's implied that Marty Wolf's recent movies haven't had very good reception. Depending on how poorly Whittaker and Fowl performed at the box office in its' opening weekend, it might be understandable for Marcus to prematurely declare it a flop.
  • Sleeper hits and cult classics are rare; the vast majority of theatrical films earn most of their box-office grosses in the first two weekends. If opening night didn't go well, especially if those opening-night audiences are spreading negative word-of-mouth, Duncan has no reason to expect growth from that point.
• How exactly did Marty end up bankrupt after being exposed and fired? It's understandable his studio was likely shut down and such, but given his past successes before this point, wouldn't he have had a reasonable personal fortune, plus assets and movie royalties to fall back on?
  • It's implied that his recent movies haven't had done well at the box office, so maybe he was already on the verge of bankruptcy and the exposure/firing was just the straw that broke the camels' back.
• I can see how having the essay being handwritten would likely mean Jason didn't just copy/paste a story from the internet, but what would have stopped Jason from transcribing something he found on the internet?
  • It's likely the best strategy his teacher could think of in a world before online plagiarism detectors.

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